While the House of Representatives passes a bill that restores some oversight powers to regulate the unrestrained NSA spying and contains an “exclusion provision” barring immunity for telecoms, the Senate Judiciary Committee releases its own bill that also leaves out telecom immunity:
- House OKs Surveillance Oversight Bill (Associated Press/Washington Post)
- Panel Drops Immunity From Eavesdropping Bill (New York Times)
A leaked 2003 Gitmo manual states—in writing—the prison’s intentional policy of trying to “ ‘exploit the disorientation and disorganization felt by a newly arrived detainee’ by denying access to the Koran and preventing visits to Red Cross representativesâ€:
- Red Cross Monitors Barred From Guantánamo (New York Times)
Homeland Security and the State Department continue to deny South African Muslim sociologist Adam Habib an entry visa to the US for unknown reasons, but the ACLU speculates it is because of his vvocal criticism of the Iraq war:
- South African Fights Denial of U.S. Visa (Christian Science Monitor)
UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon visits Lebanon to help avert the country’s worst internal political crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war:
- UN Tries to Break Lebanon Impasse (BBC News)
Despite of latest IAEA report that Iran’s nuclear program shows little evidence to suggest it is being used for military purposes, the White House continues to press ahead with more sanctions; a lack of agreement among UN Security Council members, however, makes a third round of penalties against Tehran unlikely, at least for now:
- Pressure for Iran Sanctions Continues (BBC News)
- UN Debate: More Anti-Iran Measures? (Christian Science Monitor)
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